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Citing Ethics, Some Doctors Are Rejecting Industry Pay

With little fanfare, a small number of prominent academic scientists have made a decision that was until recently all but unheard of. They decided to stop accepting payments from food, drug and medical device companies.

No longer will they be paid for speaking at meetings or for sitting on advisory boards. They may still work with companies. It is important, they say, for knowledgeable scientists to help companies draw up and interpret studies. But the work will be pro bono.

The scientists say their decisions were private and made with mixed emotions. In at least one case, the choice resulted in significant financial sacrifice. While the investigators say they do not want to appear superior to their colleagues, they also express relief. At last, they say, when they offer a heartfelt and scientifically reasoned opinion, no one will silently put an asterisk next to their name.

They are part of a group responding to accusations of ethical conflicts inherent in these arrangements, and their decisions repudiate decades of industry influence, says Dr. Jerome P. Kassirer, a professor at the Tufts School of Medicine, who has written a book on conflicts of interest.

He attributes the change to publicity about conflicts and what can be almost a public shaming when researchers’ conflicts are published. “Finally, it’s gotten to people,” Dr. Kassirer said.

Here are the accounts of three scientists who have lost their asterisks.

Dr. Peter Libby, chief of cardiovascular medicine at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said that when he first began receiving offers from drug companies, in the early 1980s, they seemed like a natural reflection of his burgeoning reputation.

“When you start emerging as an opinion leader or as a researcher who has knowledge and expertise, the pharmaceutical industry takes an interest in either having you consult to help them with their research or to speak,” he said.

Dr. Libby wanted to assist. Like many scientists, he feels that it is important for researchers to consult with drug companies to help develop therapies and set up studies. He never owned stock in companies that he consulted for. He always disclosed the fact that he consulted and spoke for companies. And, he added, he thought that he was protected from accusations of favoring any particular company’s products because he consulted for so many.

“I lived safely in that comfort zone for many years,” Dr. Libby said.

Then he was hit with a moment of truth. He had spent four years working without pay to help create a public television series, “The Mysterious Human Heart.” The project was, he thought, a worthy effort to educate the public about what heart disease was and how to prevent it. He was proud and pleased when the series was broadcast in October.

But to his dismay, bloggers immediately attacked him and the other medical experts who appeared on the programs for having consulted for manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, Dr. Libby said, adding: “They said we were biased. What I thought was four years of public service was impugned.

“That was a wake-up call for me. I was singed in the blogosphere.”

This year, he made his decision. He would continue speaking at forums sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry and would continue consulting for companies. But he would no longer accept payment.

Since then, Dr. Libby said, company executives and lawyers have asked whether they offended him. Does he have some secret agenda?

His motives are straightforward, he replies. “I want to speak out about the beliefs I am passionate about regarding prevention and medical advances that I think can reduce disease and save lives,” he said. “It is not worth it to be under suspicion.”

Kelly D. Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale, made a similar decision. His was to protect his integrity when he began to wonder whether his industry associations were subtly affecting his objectivity. “The money offers started happening about 20 years ago, at the point that I became a visible person in the field,” Dr. Brownell said.

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First it was drug companies developing obesity drugs. Then it was food companies. Eventually, Dr. Brownell said, he began to worry. Were his associations unconsciously affecting his objectivity? He said the money could be substantial. He was offered, for example, $50,000 to be on an advisory board.

“It is easy to offer subtle statements that would favor a drug,” Dr. Brownell said. “You do it for two reasons. You’ve got a money stream coming in, and you get to like the people who work for the companies. You feel like you’re on a team.”

About 10 years ago, he decided he had to stop accepting money, he recounted. It was one factor, along with higher taxes and his wife’s decision to work fewer hours, that led him to sell his house and move to a less expensive one. And that $50,000? He turned it down. The offer arrived after he had made his decision.

Dr. Eric P. Winer, director of the Breast Oncology Center at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard, made his decision about a year ago. “Several times when I was interviewed for stories, after my comments there would be the obligatory phrase, ‘Dr. Winer has accepted honoraria,’ ” he said. “I was tired of having to see that.”

Photo

Dr. Eric P. Winer, director of Breast Oncology Center at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.Credit
C.J. Gunter for The New York Times

He had also accepted a position as chief scientific adviser for a group that advocates for women with breast cancer, Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Those asterisks, he decided, could hinder his ability to help the group.

Dr. Winer, like many other investigators, points out that conflicts are not so simple. His honoraria were typically on the order of $2,000 or $3,000 for attending an advisory board meeting for a day and a half or two days. “It truly is not a large amount of money we are talking about here,” he said.

There are many other sorts of conflicts that attract little comment but that can be much more significant, Dr. Winer added. There is the researcher’s need to run a clinical trial because that can help the researcher’s career or obtaining financing. The reward is not money, but career advancement and prestige.

In today’s atmosphere of intense scrutiny of scientists who accept industry money, he said, he felt he had little choice.

“I am responding to a societal pressure,” Dr. Winer said. “I just said enough is enough. And in truth, it has made my life simpler. I no longer debate can I take this, can I not take this. It is simpler when I talk to reporters. It is simpler when I give lectures.”

On the other hand, he mused, the decision had a subtle effect. Now that he receives no compensation, he is less willing to help pharmaceutical companies research treatments.

“My willingness to go to an advisory board meeting has gone down,” Dr. Winer said. “Do I want to spend my Saturdays and Sundays at a meeting? As much as I am a dedicated researcher, I have to have a life.”

“This is a complicated arena,” he added. “And on some level I resent the fact that I had to make this decision.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page F1 of the New York edition with the headline: Citing Ethics, Some Doctors Are Rejecting Industry Pay. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe